"Autism? What is that?" Harold asked, unfamiliar with the term.
"Though scientists are uncertain of autism's causation," the doctor replied, "the disability is believed to originate from multiple neurological abnormalities."
"Of what origin?"
"Various environmental and genetic factors. Sammy will have to undergo karyotyping."
"When?"
"Next week, with a blood test. It will disclose whether or not he has an identifiable genetic disorder. We will have to perform karyotyping to detect if Fragile X Syndrome, Down Syndrome, or other genetic disorders are present."
"I don't understand Sammy's disability."
"Autistic individuals significantly struggle to communicate and interact with other people. Some autistics cannot speak, and some autistics may be highly verbal. However, if they become upset, they may react in violent or destructive panic. The characteristics vary from child to child. It affects both genders, some girls, but mostly boys."
"How much would a single speech or occupational therapy session cost for Sammy?"
"70 dollars an hour, Harold. Therapists have to make money, in order to feed their families. That's the cost for autism specific therapies alone. Milder therapies cost less money here. Autistics needs are typically much more pervasive, intense, and serious than other special needs."
Harold made an angry face, sulking in his chair, shrugging. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but there's no way I'm paying for that. 70 dollars an hour for therapy. That money provides us with groceries. If I paid 70 dollars for therapy on a regular basis, we'd have to sell our house, and live in a homeless shelter. It'd be a living nightmare for Sammy."
"I'm sorry, but that's how the system works," the doctor replied. "Sammy's autism isn't mild at all. He's nonverbal, lost his self care skills, has extreme sensory and feeding issues, and he can't attend school. When he reaches puberty, he might become very violent and destructive, and we'd have to lock him up. That's the general prognosis for severely autistic boys and girls."
"What specific form of autism does Sammy have?"
"He has unspecified developmental disorder, or PDD-NOS and regressive classic autism. His autism is mostly the same as classic autism. The main difference is him gradually losing all his speech and daily living skills, rather than starting out delayed. Regressive autism is typically much more severe."
-
As the appointment ended, Sammy was given a couple of free sensory toys, by a kind female occupational therapist. The toys included a multi-textured, hammer-shaped blue chew toy, a green sensory brush, and a large green Tirra stress ball. None of the items posed any significant choking hazard.
As Sammy was placed back into the car, into his massive car seat, Kenji and Uma gave him his new sensory toys. Kenji buckled up Sammy's seatbelt, and Uma praised Sammy. "You're a good little boy, Sammy", she said. She gave him a smiling louie sticker, saying "Jump For Joy" on it.
To avoid upsetting Sammy, Harold drive home first, letting Sammy stay home with Kenji. Uma and Kazuko used the bathroom and took the car, taking a trip to the grocery store. Sammy played trains with Kenji, though strangely. To calm himself down, Harold logged into his touchscreen phone's shopping app. He searched up queries such as "Autism Therapy Books", "Vegetable Powder", and "Sensory Toys For Boys".
-
"Dry chickpeas, dry lentils, raw plum vinegar, check," Uma said, checking off the grocery list. "Mama, we could germinate pulses. We could bake them into Sammy's treats, after making them into flour."
"Good idea, my girl," Kazuko nodded. "I'll also get Sammy various veggie chips, quinoa for sprouting, broccoli seeds for sprouting, gluten free ginger cookies, and dairy free probiotic yogurts, various flavors. I'll also pick up some kombucha and healthier crackers. He loves peanut butter, but let's try different nut butters."
-
Sammy acted deaf, rubbing his index finger on his sensory brush. He and Kenji were in the living room. Harold finished purchasing some things for Sammy, and he logged out of his touchscreen phone. Now, Harold was peeling and chopping carrots, preparing a beef stew.
Kenji tried to re-engage Sammy into playing toy trains. "Aww, Sammy," Kenji blushed. "You tipped over all the trains. Why do you spin their wheels? They belong on the tracks."
Sammy didn't say anything, except for grunting. He picked up a red toy train, spinning its front wheels. He was curious about how wheels spin.
Kenji picked up Sammy's new sensory brush. "Sammy, let's enjoy some brushing," Kenji said. However, Sammy, hypersensitive to sensory input, began yelling "AHH! AHH! AHH!" nonstop, jumping away from Kenji. Sammy thought the brush was a disciplinary tool… like a punishment, but Sammy had no idea what he did wrong.
"Sammy? I thought you liked this brush!" Kenji frowned, as he watched Sammy panic. Little did Kenji know, Sammy liked the brush… only on his fingertips.
Sammy's yelling and panicking continued, with him running into the bathroom. Sammy tried to hide under the sink, in its cabinet. Kenji found him.
"Sammy, calm down! You like this brush, right?" Kenji asked, backing off.
Suddenly, Sammy crawled out of the cabinet, and he got mad about what happened in the first place (Kenji wanting to brush him). Sammy bit Kenji on the left arm, and Kenji grunted "Ouch!" as he watched Sammy bite him.
-
"Dad, Sammy bit me," Kenji frowned, holding back the tears. "See the bite wound? It's on my left arm."
"That's terrible, Kenji," Harold replied. "Sammy often becomes violent around himself and others. I'm unsure why. Thankfully, Sammy's still alive, because I recently heard of a mother who lost her autistic son."
"What happened to her autistic son?" Kenji asked.
"He was mistreated, and he died inside a group home, I forgot her son's name," Harold replied. "They had a funeral for him, and his ashes are inside his mother's bracelet charm. Her son was age 22, and he was nonverbal, with epilepsy, intellectual disability, and violent behavior."
"Hopefully, Sammy stays alive a long, long time," Kenji replied. "We'll make sure that doesn't happen to our little guy. I'm his protective big brother."
Suddenly, Kazuko and Uma arrived home, carrying paper bags of groceries. After they spoke and put things away, Kazuko pulled a recipe card out of her pocket. One of her neighbors created a delicious cookie recipe, without any dairy, soy, nor flour. It used sprouted, mashed chickpeas, duck or goose eggs, Dutch cocoa, apple nectar, and organic vanilla veggie powder. She knew Sammy was going to love it.
What happens next?
TBC.